The BC government announced on Monday that they will be increasing the time intervals between the first dose and second dose of COVID-19 vaccines.
In the press conference today, Provincial Health Officials Dr. Penny Ballem, executive lead of the B.C. immunization rollout team, and Dr. Bonnie Henry announced the beginning of the Phase 2 plan for vaccine rollouts.
Provincial Health Officials said that by March 400,000 people will be immunized and asserted that the vaccine, even after one dose, provides “dramatic protection, even just after 21 days,” said Dr. Bonnie Henry.#yyj #victoriabuzz@victoriabuzzes
— Ryan Hook (@ryanhookwrites) March 1, 2021
Phase 2 will include a slower vaccine rollout of second doses due to the positive impact a first-dose COVID-19 vaccine has had.
The data collected below shows the impact of just one shot of the vaccine in long term care homes:
And health care workers:
The data infers that, after one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, the efficacy of the vaccine works within 20-25 days.
With Phase 2 beginning this month, the new vaccine from AstraZeneca, and the FDA-approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine being reviewed by Health Canada, Dr. Bonnie Henry was optimistic at today’s press conference.
“Everyone moves up in line,” Dr. Bonnie Henry said. “We need to hold on a little longer. We are weeks & months away […] we are so close.”
The BC government stated that they intend to have more than 400,000 people in British Columbia immunized from March to early April, which will be regarded as the largest immunization rollout in B.C.’s history.
